I do a lot of canning ( and freezing) thanks to a green-thumb husband, and while I love to bake, neither he nor I need the calories!

Onebyone, I also put my flour and any flour type product in my very cold fridge downstairs. After living in Florida and finding little very live bugs in my boxed mixes, flour, pasta, I turned to putting it in the freezer down there and then into the cabinet after a few days. I now live in the midwest so really don't have to do it any longer but it's become a habit. So I keep all my flour, pasta, nuts, sugar, baking chips and coconut in the fridge downstairs as I have room for it there. Old habits are hard to kill.

I have to make almost everything i eat myself for health reasons. That includes ketchup, mayonnaise, salsa, sauces. So I spend WAY too much time in the kitchen as it is. If I started baking and canning, I'd have no time to quilt.:shock:

This was my first year of making peach jam. Our one tree made enough peaches for 7 jars and then I peeled and froze a big batch for smoothies. I do like to bake but we just can't eat all those baked goods, so do that rarely. Fresh bread is my downfall, so rarely make it, otherwise I'd eat the entire loaf!! I make most of our meals at home, mostly unprocessed foods, so there is some time in the kitchen, but that is my choice and I enjoy it.

I SO wish I enjoyed kitchen time more. For me it's just a chore. My limited choices for eating make it a pain also.

I make blackberry jelly every year with the blackberries from our plants. I give it out to the neighbors and also include it in Christmas baskets. I am going to try to start doing meals prepping in the new year, with just 2 of us it seems to make sense to have some stuff in the fridge for lunches.

I just made a batch of the that "porridge bread" somebody posted a while back. Very simple recipe using plain yogurt (I use greek) plain old fashed oats, a bit of oil and baking soda. I also added some soaked raisins to it for a bit of sweet flavor. I am enjoying it for a quick breakfast or lunch as I figure it has a fair amount of protein and complex carbs in it.

I freeze more than can. It's easier and doesn't make the house so hot. Even if I roast tomatoes before freezing, having the oven on doesn't compare to boiling water baths. Ugh. Love freezer jams, they taste so much fresher, although they are a softer set. There are only 2 of us here now, so I don't bake as much. I, too, make sourdough breads. I took a class in 2019 or so, didn't keep up with it, but started again when I stumbled upon an online teacher that made things more understandable. I thought I didn't like sourdough, but now realize I don't like packaged sourdough that has enhancers in it. When I bake it, I usually do enough for a month and freeze it. It doesn't take much longer than making one loaf, and then it's done for awhile.

I can pickles and salsa--something both DH and I enjoy eating. This year my 5 tomato plants gave us enough for 10 pints of sauce besides the salsa, but I don't usually make tomato sauce because of the time involved. I make wholewheat buns for myself. One batch gives me enough for 3 weeks. DH does his own Keto baking, which I am very thankful for. I don't do much other baking because I'd rather have salty than sweet. But at Christmas, there are a couple of traditional cookie recipes that I make to share with the family.

Because of stomach issues, our dog gets a heaping tablespoon of pumpkin every day. Since canned pumpkin has nearly doubled in price in the last year, I took advantage of Halloween and chopped up, microwaved, mashed and froze the equivalent of 5 cans ($30 worth) for $1.97 and a bit of work! Joe hasn't noticed any difference. That was definitely a win/win!

True story- growing up I never heard of canning. My husband's grandmother was canning tomatoes one day and I couldn't figure out how she would be able to put them in "cans" and seal them up like in the store HAHAHAHA